Chapter 93
Xander
Aurelia returns to Animus Academy dressed like a crime lord and smelling of blood and darkness.
She snarls at the sky as she shifts from shadow back into human form, on the roof of the animus dorms, dropping a small empty backpack at her feet.
I give her a moment from my position in the sky where I was on patrol before she makes eye contact with me, those dark sapphires demanding my attention through the night.
Descending, I shift before I hit the stone, landing on human feet.
“Where did you go?” I ask, trying not to sound worried, nervous, or excited by the answer.
Her serpent fangs slowly disappear into her mouth as she sighs. “I’m not sure you want to know.”
I look out across the scrubland beyond the academy, the quiet dark. How many times had I myself made a flight to Drakos Estate, my heart bleeding, rage spreading through me like poison? “I know what I would do,” I say quietly. “I’ve confronted my father many a time.”
Aurelia looks at me sharply before her shoulders sag and a high heel scrapes along the stone. “Scythe always said we’re more alike than I ever thought.”
I laugh through my nose. “He said as much to me. The bastard is always right.”
She moistens her lips, dry from the night air. “Xander, I need you to go to zookeeper Rick and ask for a venom collection vessel. I need you to help me do something.”